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Survey Results 2003
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You are a:
| (19) 43% |
Member of 2-7 years |
| (10) 23% |
New member (joined last sailing
season) |
| (9) 20% |
Member of more than 7 years |
| (3) 7% |
Former member |
| (2) 5% |
Non-member |
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You came out to the club:
| (32) 73% |
Frequently |
| (10) 23% |
Occasionally |
| (2) 5% |
Never |
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Your affiliation with the University of Michign
is:
| (12) 27% |
Alumni |
| (10) 23% |
Student |
| (7) 16% |
Staff |
| (7) 16% |
None |
| (4) 9% |
Faculty |
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You found out about the club by:
| (23) 52% |
Word of mouth
(friends/coworkers/members/etc) |
| (7) 16% |
The web |
| (4) 9% |
Read about us in the Observer, Ann
Arbor News etc. |
| (2) 5% |
Saw one of our fliers/posters on
campus |
| (2) 5% |
Boat on campus |
| (1) 2% |
International Day |
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Please rate your satisfaction with the
following core activities of the club: (Scale:
1 to 5, with 1 being lowest and 5 being
highest.)
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|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Saturday morning instruction |
|
(3) 7% |
(8) 18% |
(8) 18% |
(18) 41% |
| Sunday racing |
|
(3) 7% |
(6) 14% |
(12) 27% |
(11) 25% |
| Thursday meetings |
(1) 2% |
(2) 5% |
(4) 9% |
(19) 43% |
(8) 18% |
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How can we improve these activities?
- Advertise everything more to
students.
- Create on Instructor Email sub list to
request help and motivate instructors. A very
active and organized Vice Commodore
facilitates instructors and students all day
long and covers such an email list. Meetings
- Once a month have an "Advanced Lecture" in
a nearby classroom for the experienced
sailors.
- Do some racing rules reviews. Have a
clinic for instructors. Give more lead-time
as to the Thursday meeting contents.
- I am a new employee at UM and pending a
move into the area. I am an avid sailor with
several Macks experience. I am considering
joining the club. I understand that the club
has a mack crew?
- I think the Sailing Club should try to
get more experienced sailors to teach the
first and second time beginners. I didn't
have a problem with this, but my friend was
initially taught by someone who had just
learned two months ago, and she learned at a
much slower pace than I did.
- If a lecture is cancelled at the last
minute, is it possible to have somebody there
with a sign or something?
- I'm mostly interested in windsurfing, not
so much sailing. A few more rigs would be
great, for those times when there are long
waits for us windsurfers.
- More advanced instruction at boat
school.
- More consistency of instruction for new
sailors, more instruction for post crew-rated
members, more incentives to teach, more
incentives to volunteer in other ways.
- More helms instruction should be given
during that time to improve the sailing skill
of the crew rated teachers. Offer crash-boat
handling skills demonstration and practice
more often. Racing: Perhaps have a list
somewhere -- on web site and/or at the club
of individuals looking for crew for a Sunday
race.
- Offer some advanced sailing technique
classes.
- Reorganize Saturday racing to reduce
instructor burnout.
- Saturday morning instruction should be
faster paced. We should have tables for each
shore school activity with an instructor at
each. Then we should sign off the people
immediately when they pass the activity. For
those who have not joined yet, we need a crew
rating sheet that is not part of the book. In
this way they can make progress toward their
crew rating without having the book.
Sign-offs on their sheet would be
transferable to the book when they join. Get
people on the tiller as soon as you can,
hopefully in the first lesson, so that they
can get used to steering the boat.
- Schedule racing for after noon on Sunday.
Schedule instruction for sailing
teachers.
- Standardize instructor training (very
similar to TRAIN the TRAINERS concept).
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Please rate the importance of the following
activities to your experience of the club:
(Scale: 1 to 5, with 1 being lowest and 5 being
highest.)
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Ride coordination (out to the
club) |
(22) 50% |
(5) 11% |
(5) 11% |
(5) 11% |
(2) 5% |
| Night sailing |
(5) 11% |
(8) 18% |
(9) 20% |
(11) 25% |
(8) 18% |
| On-the-water sailing game days |
(9) 20% |
(8) 18% |
(9) 20% |
(8) 18% |
(6) 14% |
| Sailing frisbee |
(12) 27% |
(6) 14% |
(11) 25% |
(9) 20% |
(3) 7% |
| Sailing-related trips (i.e. tall ships
or boat shows) |
(6) 14% |
(15) 34% |
(11) 25% |
(5) 11% |
(2) 5% |
| Winter meetings on sailing-related
topics |
(5) 11% |
(9) 20% |
(14) 32% |
(8) 18% |
(3) 7% |
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How can we improve these activities?
- Better organization about the club's
activities. Better communication.
- Create an interactive email system to
coordinate rides to the club on an ongoing
basis. Thus, a student rider can place a need
for a ride on X day (within club defined
times) and hopefully get a direct response
back from a driver.
- Get students involved.
- More advanced notification of these
events
- More game days and frisbee!
- More windsurfing trips. Also, allow
members who demonstrate knowledge of
windsurfing to take out a rig for a day or
weekend (away from the lake).
- Sailing related trips: A group camp-out
at Higgins Lake State Park in late June would
be a nice addition. Several members have
their own boats/sailboards.
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Please rate the importance of the following
social activities to your experience of the
club: (Scale: 1 to 5, with 1 being lowest and 5
being highest.)
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Potlucks/picnics at the club |
(2) 5% |
(4) 9% |
(8) 18% |
(12) 27% |
(15) 34% |
| Parties at off-site locations |
(10) 23% |
(8) 18% |
(13) 30% |
(7) 16% |
(2) 5% |
| Camping at the club |
(11) 25% |
(3) 7% |
(13) 30% |
(8) 18% |
(6) 14% |
Winter activities outside of
sailing
(i.e. hiking, tennis, skiing, trips) |
(9) 20% |
(7) 16% |
(13) 30% |
(7) 16% |
(4) 9% |
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Would you like to see any of the following
items at the club?
|
|
Yes |
No |
| Instructor training sessions |
(28) 64% |
(7) 16% |
| More club merchandise such as t-shirts,
hats etc. |
(25) 57% |
(11) 25% |
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What other sorts of activities or instruction
would you find helpful or enjoyable?
- A more organized effort to promote the
upper ratings on a continuous basis. Hold
Skipper/Helm Key meetings at the club to
promote better instruction and club
operation.
- Catamaran
- Help for instructors knowing what/how to
teach more praise of instructors and other
volunteersÕ clinics eg. spinnaker,
trapeze, Laser, family boat... camaraderie
among volunteers.
- Honestly, I come to the club to sail,
swim, and enjoy the company of other members.
The activities & amenities are nice, but
not necessary to my enjoyment of the club.
Overall the club is meeting my needs quite
well.
- I feel that all new instruction and
activities that the club might pursue must be
watersports-related first and foremost. I do
not favor introducing any new activities to
draw in nonsailors.
- Instructor training. Cruising training to
get certified to charter boats. (Maybe for a
winter trip)
- Kiteboarding instruction.
- More advanced sailing clinics, promote
racing, change skipper/crew during racing to
help all get more experience.
- More evening activities like cookouts,
musical evenings, night sailing, roasting
marshmallows around a fire.
- More instructor training with the crash
boat. More instruction in boat repair
techniques.
- More trips to places such as west coast
of Michigan to sail catamarans or sail on
tall ships. People already do this sort of
thing within small groups of friends, but we
should make an effort to use such trips to
get students interested.
- Organized instruction beyond basic
sailing. Once you get your crew rating, there
aren't many opportunities to learn (on the
water) more advanced techniques. Paul
Townsend has been great about teaching beyond
the crew level. It would be good to see more
of this happening in a way that newly
"crewed" people can know about and take
advantage of.
- Teaching lessons on blackboard on what
exercises will be done (i.e. rounding buoys)
BEFORE getting on the water. After-the-race
feedback and summary. Sailing Students could
have small card w/photo with various sailing
proficiency levels stamped as they pass their
tests (i.e. levels white, yellow, orange,
green, blue, brown, black).
- Water toys (donated items, like super
soakers, might be fun), kayaking,
canoeing.
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Please rate your satisfaction with the
following facilities of the club: (Scale: 1 to
5, with 1 being lowest and 5 being
highest.)
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Bathrooms |
(3) 7% |
(3) 7% |
(7) 16% |
(18) 41% |
(11) 25% |
| Parking |
(2) 5% |
(2) 5% |
(9) 20% |
(16) 36% |
(13) 30% |
| Lawn/grounds |
(1) 2% |
(1) 2% |
(3) 7% |
(18) 41% |
(18) 41% |
| Seating (i.e. chairs, benches, picnic
tables) |
(2) 5% |
(2) 5% |
(9) 20% |
(19) 43% |
(10) 23% |
| Storage for personal gear |
(5) 11% |
(12) 27% |
(11) 25% |
(9) 20% |
(5) 11% |
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What are the top two things you'd like to
change about the club, if possible?
- 1) Getting more volunteers, not the same
people doing everything, through incentives,
i.e. people want to help if they feel the
club belongs to them and their opinions are
valued. A survey like this is great if it has
some follow through. The board should not
just be taking these ideas and doing it all
themselves, but rather soliciting members,
especially newer members, to have ideas and
get involved. 2) Something with the
instruction program that distinguishes
between those who are just out for a visit
and those that really want to learn to
sail.
- 1) Instead of a core of devoted
individuals providing a free service to the
community (giving lessons but many people
never sign up), build up more participation
among all members. It is too easy right now
to be a slacker and let the old-timers do all
the work. Maybe there should be some very
minimal requirement, like helm-key/skippers
would be required to do shore duty one day a
month. I have no idea how this would be
enforced. 2) Make it sound attractive to
students and advertise in places students
actually look.
- 1. Cut off the piece of steel on the
gatepost that some people scrape their cars
on. 2. More formal maintenance program for
the boats where those that use them the most
(like the racers) must participate in a
maintenance day.
- 1. Not allow use of Club premises for
personal functions/receptions/weddings/etc.
2. Learning how to sail and sailing should be
the primary/core activity of the club,
everything else to follow if time
permits.
- Better gear storage!!
- Buy a catamaran. Less emphasis on new
members, more emphasis on retaining
members.
- Embrace change. Add additional floor with
terrace, chairs and umbrellas.
- I am very satisfied with our sailing
club. I promote it to everyone I meet.
- I really enjoy the club, I can't think of
anything I'd like to change.
- I would be happy to get rid of or smooth
over the speed bumps. They are rough on
trailers and cars no matter how slowly one
goes over them.
- I'd like to see the club have a higher
presence on UM campus since we exist to
provide rec activities for them. I'd like to
see the recent trend of volunteer task forces
being set up to address specific issues
continue, as when the bathrooms were
painted.
- I'd love to expand the boathouse. It
would be great to have more storage space for
personal gear, food, etc. and more space for
windsurfing sails and boards (it's starting
to get kind of cramped back there). I'd also
like to see more one-on-one advanced
instruction. The racing clinics have been
great for people who enjoy racing. I don't
want to learn racing techniques, but I'd like
to increase my sailing proficiency.
- Increased efforts to retain members.
Modify Saturday instruction so instructors
don't burn out and so we help new
members.
- More sandy beach area; encourage more
volunteer work for upkeep (have actual
sign-up sheets, have old-timers show newbies
and others the tools for cleaning, sweeping,
mowing, etc.)
- More shaded seating. Add more storage for
personal gear.
- Nicer seats in the club. Filtered water.
Storage bins for members.
- Please remove all the speed bumps on the
club road. Please put back the wild raspberry
bushes.
- Shaded seating near boathouse where
everyone hangs out. A catamaran would be fun
to have.
- Some club members feel a little
intimidating - like you will be more accepted
if you're a great sailor.
- Some people at the club are very insecure
and tend to do a lot of bragging either about
their personal intellectual prowess or about
their boating skill. I wish this would stop.
Not much you can do about it however. I would
like to see more comfortable lawn (lounge)
chairs and fun flotation devices for a more
rounded fun experience at the club. A few
umbrellas, round tables and a deck near the
water would also be good. Drinking water has
always been a problem also.
- The daily hours during the summer. As a
student I have time during the day and would
enjoy sailing at times other than the evening
during the week.
- We need a catamaran.
- When forming working committees, have
them representative of all the club members.
Purchase two more picnic tables for the
grounds. Increase the personal storage
capacity at the club. We appear to have a
need for more maintenance at the club to
include some inside painting and exterior
doors. Hopefully we will have an ongoing
maintenance program by which a large group of
members can be involved to do the work and
not rely on just one person. To finish the
boathouse, we still need to wire in the wood
stove electric fan to a wall switch (hidden
wiring behind the dry wall). Let's move the
gas shed away from the open fire pit to
reduce the risk of setting the woods on fire.
The current fire pit is flat to the ground,
maybe we could raise it up a little with a
brick/stone perimeter safety wall.
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Thank you for taking the time to complete this
survey. That act alone tells us of your
dedication to the club. Are there any other
issues that you would like the board to
discuss?
- Always work on better communication and
use the people that volunteer, even though
they may not have been in the original plan.
Volunteers don't come back if they are
ignored.
- Basically, I like the club. It is simple
& functional. Lets us concentrate on
sailing.
- Change/amend Commodore and Vice Commodore
mandates with two-year terms maximum and
non-renewable non-consecutively after
that.
- Create a club environment that is dynamic
and highly motivated plus have more
transparency in communication within all
areas and that empowers volunteer members to
keep the club functioning on a very high
level of educational and social activities.
Over relying on any one person to do what
appears to be the responsibility of other
members may create an environment whereby
club members become accustomed to be served
and have very little or no incentive to get
involved in the club and contribute. An
excellent volunteer organization grows
because good leadership recruits, trains,
motivates and supports volunteers to do the
same with newer members over the years.
- Is the club open to sailing during the
wedding? I would like permission to keep my
yellow laser at the club this season.
- It annoys me that I can't store my
windsurfer at the club, but some other people
are allowed to store their boats. Why are we
afraid of these people?? Tell them to get rid
of their crap.
- Overall, I am very happy with how the
club is being run. That includes current
efforts to make improvements, solicit
suggestions, and include new members in
running the club as they become able to do
so.
- Should we install a weather station and
connect it to the net? Should we install an
outdoor shower?
- Thanks for all your work keeping things
running well.
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